Continuing to expand its footprint and market share in eastern Massachusetts, Rockland Trust said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Mayflower Bancorp for $37 million.

Middleboro-based Mayflower Bancorp has eight branches in the southern tier of Plymouth County, with $236 million in deposits and $141 million in loans.

Rockland Trust CEO Chris Oddleifson said the merger will likely result in some branch closings and elimination of an undetermined number of jobs in areas with redundancies. Rockland Trust has locations in six of the eight towns where Mayflower Bank branches are located. It also has a back office in Middleboro.

Many of the former Mayflower employees could be rehired, as Rockland Trust is adding 140 employees a year, Oddleifson said.

“I imagine there will be a lot of people who will be able to land at Rockland Trust,” he said.

Mayflower Bank has 70 employees.

The acquisition is expected to help Rockland Trust increase its loan portfolio. Mayflower’s loan-to-deposit ratio is 60 percent, compared with Rockland Trust’s 100 percent, so the combined bank will be able to use the additional liquidity to expand lending, Oddleifson said.

“Mayflower’s primarily a residential lender, and we are 70 percent a business and commercial lender. You put the two together and we’ll be able to deploy both in our residential, home equity and commercial lending base,” Oddleifson said. “It gives you more flexibility.”

Rockland Trust solidified its position as the state’s second-largest retail bank with last year’s $55 million acquisition of Somerville-based Central Bank. That deal gave the Hanover-based institution its first presence north of Boston.

To raise its profile in new markets, Rockland Trust last month launched its second major ad campaign featuring TV commercials on Boston stations developed by Boston-based ad agency FORGE Worldwide. In the last three years, the bank’s name recognition in Greater Boston has increased 60 percent, Oddleifson said.

“Advertising is a big piece of that, but these acquisitions also have helped,” he said.

The transaction is subject to the approval of regulators and Mayflower shareholders. The closing is expected to take place in the fourth quarter.